Planning a Trip to Greece: Your Travel Checklist

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It seems like a trip to Greece is on everyone’s travel bucket list, and we can hardly blame them! Allison and I have both traveled extensively around Greece, exploring both mainland Greece and far-flung islands. Since traveling to Greece can incorporate so many different types of travel styles, it’s common for people to have a lot of questions as they start planning a trip to Greece. Especially if you’re coming to Greece for a special event like an anniversary or a honeymoon, you’re probably concerned with how to plan the best Greece vacation.

To make it easier, we’ve created this easy 11 point checklist for traveling to Greece to help you make sure you’ve covered all of the important pre-trip planning steps so you can sit back and enjoy your Greek vacation once you get here! Consider this your one-stop Greece trip planner.

Want to pin this guide to planning your Greece trip? Click below!

Step 1: Check to See if You Need a Visa

Greece is part of the Schengen Zone, so passport holders from many countries can visit visa-free.

Greece is one of the two Balkan countries that are part of the Schengen Zone, the block of twenty-six European countries that use a common visa system.

Passport holders from Schengen Zone member countries do not need a travel visa to visit Greece:

Countries marked with an asterisk have special requirements to be allowed visa-free travel to the Schengen zone.

Note that travel to one country in the Schengen Zone starts the clock on your ninety days, so you can travel to Greece for up to ninety days or spread it out amongst different countries. If you have been traveling the Schengen Zone for a while before arriving in Greece, make sure you have enough days left so that you don’t overstay.

While we will try to keep this post updated, you also always want to check visa rules ahead of time with the country you are visiting as well as your own country. You can check updated Schengen Zone information here.

Step 2. Book Your Tickets

This was the view that awaited me on my first flight into Athens.

I’ll never forget seeing the view out of the plane window the first time I flew to Greece. Landing in Athens, it looked like I was flying into a mythical paradise.

I’d actually decided to visit on a whim since Athens was the cheapest flight from Cyprus, where I’d been staying. However, as soon as I saw Greece first-hand, I was hooked.

I am not the only traveler first enticed to visit Greece because of the abundance of cheap flights available. The country has a lot of cheap flights available from most of Europe, as well as having a lot of great budget flights to help you hop between Greek islands.

If you are coming from North America, flights will be more expensive. However, you may want to compare prices of flying into Athens and flying to one of the islands directly when it comes time to plan a trip to Greece. You may save money by spending a few days in Athens and booking a separate flight to the islands (or even taking a ferry).

To find the best value for your flights, we suggest Skyscanner and Google Flights. Use Skyscanner’s “Everywhere” feature to check all of the various airports in Greece, since the country has so many different ones. Google Flights has a nicer interface and updates with the correct prices faster, so there are no disappointments when you click through, unlike Skyscanner.

Step 3. Plan Your Greece Itinerary

Planning a vacation to Greece? Pick out your destinations ahead of time and know how you’ll get between them.

Many people who visit Greece explore a combination of Athen and the mainland plus some islands. However, there are so many places to visit in Greece that it would be impossible to give one example itinerary that would cover all the best options. Here are some things you need to ask yourself when it comes time to plan your trip to Greece.

Am I interested in exploring Athens and seeing the ancient sites like the Acropolis?

Do I want to spend time on mainland Greece seeing Meteora, Olympus, or the Oracle of Delphi?

Do I want to spend time exploring multiple islands and experiencing how they are different?

Do I want to explore one Greek island in-depth?

The answer to these questions will help you figure out how best to divide your time. I’ve spent almost two months in Greece, and I’ve barely scratched the surface! Don’t feel bad if you can’t see everything you want to on your first trip here. You can always come back!

Here are some good guidelines to keep in mind when planning a Greece vacation.

If you have four days or less to travel in Greece, stick to one place. This would be a great amount of time for an initial trip to Athens. You can even include one day trip like the Oracle of Delphi or a cruise to the nearest three Greek islands.

If you have a week, you can explore two places. Alternatively, you can base yourself somewhere for the week and add in a day trip or two. For example, you can spend three days in Athens and then four days on Crete or Rhodes.

You could also spend the week in Athens, but add in a day trip to Delphi, an island day cruise, or Meteora. Or you could spend three days in Athens, and then rent a car and see Meteora, Olympus, and Delphi on a Greek road trip. Greece has so many options, and it’s hard to go wrong when it comes to choosing how to plan a trip to Greece!

If you have more than a week, then I suggest spending a few days in Athens and then picking a few Greek islands to explore. For each island, you’ll want three or four days so that you have time to sightsee and also to relax. While the most popular islands are Santorini, Mykonos, Crete, and Rhodes, Greece has dozens of amazing islands for you to explore. You can also combine a few popular ones with one or two that are less touristy.

An important part of picking your Greece vacation itinerary is going to be knowing how you’ll get between destinations (unless you’re staying in one place). Check prices for both flights and ferries, and book these ahead of time if you’re traveling between April and September when its high season.

If you are trying to decide where to go in Greece, we’ve created a few pieces to help you decide:

If you are combining a trip to Greece with visits to additional Balkan countries, you’ll want to check out these Balkan travel resources. We think Bulgaria is the best country to combine with Greece, but Turkey is also an excellent choice.

Step 4. Plan Your Activities

When in Athens, I took advantage of the great day trips available to explore more, like taking a cruise to some of the closest Greek islands to Athens.

After you decide where you’re going to go, you’ll want to decide which activities to enjoy. In Athens, it’s popular to do day trips to some of the more important sites on the mainland like Delphi, Cape Sounion, and Meteora. If you’re going to be on the islands, you will want to look into boating activities, water sports, and walking tours.

We use and recommend GetYourGuide for booking tours in Greece and the Balkans. We like that they have a best price guarantee and that they tell you the name of the tour companies they partner with (unlike Viator), so you can research it and be sure it’s worth your money!

If you are traveling between April and September, you will want to make sure your tours and activities are booked in advance since Greece is a hot tourist destination. I have traveled to Greece in the shoulder season (early April and October), and I still found that my tours were full or almost-full.

Step 5. Budget Your Trip

While Greece isn’t an expensive destination, you can save money by traveling between places by bus whenever possible.

Once you know where you want to go and how long you have, you can put together your trip budget.

Greece is a great budget-friendly destination compared to most of Western Europe, but if you’re traveling through the rest of the Balkans first, prices will seem a bit higher.

Even in cities like Athens and touristy cities like Rhodes, there are budget options available. We personally choose to stay in private rooms in hostels or AirBnB apartments over hostel dorms, but there are dorm beds available on almost every island to help you save money. You can find hostels in Athens for around $15 a night, but expect to spend a bit more on the islands, up to $30 or even $40 in popular places like Santorini in the high season.

You can travel through Greece on $40 USD per day by staying in dorms, eating falafel and other cheap street food, and minimizing your activities and travel between places.

When I travel through Greece, I typically spend closer to $60 USD per day and enjoy that Greece offers some true bargains in this price range.

For someone wanting the best of everything, like fancy hotels, fine dining, and the best activities, you’ll find that this will cost much less than a similarly luxurious trip in France or Italy. So if you want to have a seriously bougie time somewhere, Greece is a great value.

Good ways to cut down costs without sacrificing quality is to travel with someone so that you can split costs, enjoy your nicer meals at lunch when there are specials, and to opt for public transportation between cities whenever possible.

Step 6. Book Your Accommodations

Our villa in Crete for twelve friends cost about $25 per person per day.

Once you’ve decided out what you want to spend per night on accommodations, it’s time to get booking! We use Booking.com because we like that they have free cancellation if you end up changing your plans. This is critical in Greece since you may decide to change your itinerary if you uncover a new Greek vacation spot that you need to add.

Booking.com also has a wide selection of types of accommodations. On my last trip to Greece, I stayed at a budget hotel in Rhodes, a private villa in Crete, and a mid-range hotel in Athens. One great way to keep accommodation costs down is to stay somewhere nice at one destination, and then pick a budget hotel at your next destination.

Step 7. Research Any Vaccinations You May Need

Just a baby goat chilling on a beach. NDB.

Greece has a lot of animals, both stray and wild. There are stray dogs and cats everywhere, many of which are taken care of by local business owners and families. Since we can’t help ourselves, visiting Greece is basically like visiting one giant petting zoo of friendly dogs and cats. The only animals we wouldn’t feel comfortable petting in Greece are bats (not that I would pet those anyways). According to the CDC:

Rabies is present in bats in Greece. However, it is not a major risk to most travelers. CDC recommends rabies vaccine for only these groups:

Travelers involved in outdoor and other activities in remote areas that put them at risk for bat bites (such as adventure travel and caving).

People who will be working with or around bats (such as wildlife professionals and researchers).

Anyone not at high risk for a bat run-in just needs to be up-to-date on normal shots:

Make sure you are up-to-date on routine vaccines before every trip. These vaccines include measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine, varicella (chickenpox) vaccine, polio vaccine, and your yearly flu shot.

Step 8: Learn a Few Common Greek Words and Brush Up on the Greek Alphabet

Wanna get off-the-path in Greece? It helps to be able to read the Greek alphabet!

One thing that a lot of travelers from North America and Western Europe overlook is that Greece still uses the Greek alphabet. This means that reading maps, street signs, and menus will be more difficult. The more off-the-path you are (like when we visited the tiny beach town of Agia Triada outside of Thessaloniki), the more helpful knowing the Greek alphabet will be.

Most tourism professionals and people in the service industry speak amazing English. The one area where my friends and I found it more difficult not speaking Greek was when it comes to dating since locals who don’t interact with many tourists are less likely to speak fluent English. This does make for some fun misunderstandings, though!

The Greek alphabet was the precursor to Cyrillic, so many letters are similar. Plus, anyone who’s taken secondary math and science classes will be familiar with some of the letters. For Americans who were in fraternities or sororities in college, your days of memorizing the Greek alphabet for rush will certainly come in handy here! (That’s how I learned it). Here’s a great primer for anyone who wants to brush up!

Here are the Greek phrases we recommend you have handy for your trip to Greece:

Hello = Yasou

Hi (Informal) = Yah

Good Morning = Kaliméra

Good Evening (Can also be used for Good Afternoon though it doesn’t technically mean this) = Kalispera

Good Night (right before bed only) = Kalinikta

Goodbye = Antío Sas or Yah

Please = Parakaló

Thank You = Efkharistó

Excuse Me = Synchoréste Me

Okay or Good = Kalós

Yes = Né

No = Okhi

I Don’t Understand = Den Katalavaíno

Do You Speak English? = Milás Angliká

Note that Greek is an inflected languages, so pronunciation and inflection changes the meaning. If a Greek doesn’t understand the word’s meaning based on your pronunciation, don’t be offended! English and Greek speakers mentally classify words differently in our heads.

One of the biggest misunderstandings native English speakers have in Greece is with the Greek word for yes. When a Greek says Ne, a lot of English speakers will inadvertently hear No. Be careful since this can cause headaches!

We always recommend a good translator app, like Google Translate, just in case!

Step 9. Pack Your Bags

We recommend packing beforehand to avoid last-minute stress!

We are in the process of creating packing lists to help you know what to pack for Greece, but until then, here are some items you don’t want to leave home without:

A Lonely Planet guidebook, to help you plan when on the ground

An unlocked smartphone, so you can buy a cheap SIM card and use taxi apps in Athens

An extra swimsuit so you can enjoy Greece’s beaches without having to put a wet one back on. Never go to Greece without a swimsuit! Even when you don’t think you’ll be at a beach, Greece tends to surprise you!

Seasickness pills and Seabands for taking the ferries between Greek islands.

Sunscreen (if you’re bringing checked luggage). Sunscreen and other cosmetics can be expensive in Greece compared to back home.

Step 10. Prepare For Your Arrival

Before you can hit the sheets at your hotel, you need to get there first!

Since there’s no universal way to arrive at a destination in Greece, you’ll want to do some prep work beforehand to make sure you know how you’ll get from the airport, ferry station, or bus station to your hotel.

Flying into Athens

This is the most common way for visitors to arrive in Greece. Since I first traveled to Greece in 2016, several things about Athens ground transportation has changed. Uber has been kicked out, so you have two options. Take a taxi from the official taxi stand (with a set rate) or take the train. I’ve used both, and the train will save you a lot of money while the taxi will save you a lot of time.

We were able to convince a taxi driver to take five of us into the city for ten euros more than the official rate, which saved us money. I don’t recommend this, however, as the ride was a bit harrowing!

While you can’t use Uber at the airport, you can use the taxi app Beat which works similarly to Uber after you’re in the city.

If you plan on taking the train into Athens, have the instructions written out and easily accessible since you may not have working data on your cell phone yet. We also recommend downloading the Google Maps area for wherever you travel so that it’s available offline.

Flying into Other Airports

I’ve also flown into Thessaloniki, Crete, and Rhodes, and at all three I found that the taxi rate was set from the airport. My Airbnb host graciously arranged to pick us up when we arrived at Thessaloniki, saving us a few euros.

Most airports also have public transportation options, though not all do. Because there are so many Greek airports, research the airport individually. For example, Crete alone has two airports with two different systems.

Before You Leave the Airport

You’ll want to have some Euros on you for your taxi or to get on a bus. You can take them out at the ATMs in the airports for the best exchange rates. Just make sure you don’t have big ATM withdrawal fees from your bank. Some banks require a travel notice, and others will still put fraud blocks on cards making purchases outside of their home country.

Tell your bank when and where you’ll be traveling to avoid this. They may still put a block on your card at some point (mine frequently does). To rectify this, you’ll need to call them or respond to an email if they send one. This is one reason its good to always travel with multiple cards attached to different accounts.

Note that many places in Greece take Visa and Mastercard, but you’ll still need some cash to be able to travel through Greece smoothly. It can be difficult finding places that take American Express.

Step 11: Don’t Forget Travel Insurance!

Travel insurance – the best way to get your dress replaced when a goat pees on it. At least it wasn’t a camera!

We put this last so it’s fresh on your mind: travel insurance is essential for Greece and for travel in general! Allison and I have both been paying customers of World Nomads for the last two years. We love the peace of mind it gives us in case of emergencies, accidents, illnesses, theft, or trip cancellation or disruption. Also, car rental accidents in Cyprus, that time a goat peed on Allison’s dress, many cracked phone screens, the time I was too sick to fly to Santorini, etc. You get the idea!

While Greece is perfectly safe to travel around, there’s always risk inherent in everyday travel, so it’s better to play it safe. The saying goes “if you can’t afford travel insurance, you can’t afford to travel” is true!

Have you been to Greece before or are you planning a trip to Greece now? Leave your best Greece travel tips and any questions below!

Stephanie has been living in and traveling around the Balkans for the past three years. She’s written for National Geographic Online, appeared on CNN Arabic and in the New York Times, and ridden more Balkan buses than is good for a person.

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27 Comments

Harsh
on April 17, 2019 at 12:42 pm

Hi….Thanks for your valuable advise. I am in greece from 31.5.19 to 7.6.19 and planning to spend my days in athens,santorini and mykonos. Kindly help me in distributing the days. My flight will reach at 20:25 to the Athens airport. Will I have enough time to catch a connecting flight to Santorini at 22:35 or 23:15 ? Is it safe for a family to land in santorini so late ?

Hello. This article sure helped to get a picture of Greece. I am planning to visit Greece in August, probably 6-7 days. Athens being the airport i will arrive and leave Greece. Apart from Athens, i intend to visit Mykonos and Santorini. So could you please help me on how to split the tour. Like where to start from and how many days per place, etc.
Or do you think i should cut off one island and visit a destination in mainland Greece.
Your input will be very helpful. Thanks

Hi Vivek, with only 6-7 days I would recommend cutting off one island and then adding a day trip to either Meteora or Delphi (we have posts on them both) or perhaps doing a day trip from Athens where you visit 3 of the nearest islands. I would say 3 days in Athens (including 1 day for a day trip) and 3 days in either Santorini and Mykonos and one day free for travel at some point would be a good way to split it. Otherwise you’ll spend all of your time in transit with such a short trip.

My wife and I are planning a trip there in the near future. It has always been a dream of ours and we thought we wouldn’t ever be able to afford it since our kids steal all our money lol. But your article and looking around has made us see that this is a strong possibility for us! How many days would you recommend staying to really see Greece?

Hi Stefan! It definitely is a possibility for you – Greece is a lot more affordable than it looks! I highly advise traveling outside of the summer period when prices are easily 3x higher. For example, Stephanie and I had a room in Rhodes for $18 USD a night – no kidding – on Rhodes in mid-April, and it was already warm enough to swim (but just barely). Santorini and Mykonos are easily 2-3x the price of other islands. I’d strongly recommend focusing on cheaper islands if budget is a concern (so basically, stay away from Santorini, Mykonos all times of year and away from Crete, Rhodes, and Corfu in the summer high season).

Greece has hundreds of islands you can visit as well as a rich and diverse mainland – you could easily spend a year traveling it and not scratch the surface. But I’d say 10 days is a minimum to see mainland Greece and some of its archaeological wonders (Meteora, Delphi) and some of its islands. 14 days would be even better.

Thank you for your valuable advice!
I want to plan my next autumn trip from Hamburg to Athens, and then I plan to go to Santorini.
I have read that I have to rent a car in Santorini, if I want to wander around. Is that true? Are there buses on the island that go to the best beaches and villages?

Hi Getrud! Thanks for your comment. Renting a car in Santorini will definitely make things easier. There are some buses, but in autumn, the running times may be less frequent (though they will also be less crowded). Taxis are also an option, but they are expensive. I’d rent a car for a few of the days, but not all, if you are staying for a while in Santorini.

I love Athens in October! I spent the entire month there in 2016. The weather is cooler, but it can still get hot. It’s not beach weather anymore, but it’s great sightseeing weather! It definitely gets colder as the month goes on.

Is February 2020 a good time to visit Greece mainland and Santorini and the ship wreckage island? Will 10 days enough to cover? Any day tour agency to recommend Delphi and Meteora?
Pls advise.
Thank you.
Jessy
.

Hi, is late March a good time to visit Santorini? Is one week too long just to stay in Santorini? Would you recommend Athens + Santorini for a week? Also is it cheaper to book return flights to Athens from my home country and get a separate domestic ticket between Santorini and Athens? What are the baggage allowances for the domestic flights within Greece?
Thank you so much for your help in advance!

Late March would be lovely! I was there at end of October and it was still quite crowded, but when I talked to my friends who visited in March they said there were very few people but it was perfect. Personally, I was in Santorini for 4 days and found that to be just right. I think one week would be ideal for Santorini and Athens, as Athens has some great sights to see and 3 days is a good introduction. It’s definitely usually cheaper to book flights to Athens roundtrip and then a separate ticket for Santorini and Athens. As for baggage, it will 100% depend on the airline so we can’t advise that! Sky Express I believe has the most generous allowances and Volotea is more strict, but there are a half dozen or so airlines serving this route and I don’t know them all 🙂

Sorry for the delay, I was taking maternity leave. Yes, I’m sure by now you’re aware that it’s affecting all of Europe. Greece is closed through at least May. I would avoid booking a holiday until borders are reopened.

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Welcome to Sofia Adventures! We're Stephanie and Allison, two American travel bloggers who moved to Bulgaria. We use Sofia as our base to discover our favorite region in the world - the Balkans! We're here to share our knowledge from our past 3+ years of traveling the Balkans and inspire you to plan a trip to this beautiful part of the world.

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